Participants:
| Scene Title | What A Difference A Day Makes |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | The day after James' life is turned inside out and upside down, Joanna stops by needing a favor. |
| Date | July 14, 2010 |
The Office of James Silver
More often than not, when Silver see's Joanna's name, it's because they need to discuss plea bargains or other things related to actual clients. She could go to others, get this done, whatever it was that she needed done, but she wanted to go to someone she knew, as opposed to someone that was a stranger or kept her affairs in the realm of legal matters. It's not unheard of for this to happen.
But on his schedule for the day, a quick last minute slid in by the secrtary who handled such things, is Joanna Renard, esquire. Well, not really esquire literallly written there. And waiting, patiently with soft sided briefcase in hand is the person attached to said name. Hair up, red business suit, black heels, She waits her turn like every other client that James just might see."
To say that this has been a typical week for James Silver would be understating it on every level. Coming to grips with what happened to him last night has been difficult. Moving from overly happy to cautious and then to fear, it's been a roller coaster of emotions for him. At this point, right before lunch, he's finished the last one when he recognizes the name that popped up on his screen. He curses him, only because he remembers not having his secretary add this client as a squeeze in before lunch and he promptly forgot.
James takes a swallow of his cold coffee, making a face and forcing it down his throat before picking up the mug and sticking it in the microwave, then makes his way out to the front. "Joanna. Sorry for making you wait. Wanna come back?" With every emotion that has raged through him in the last 24 hours, right now he's just feeling very drained. It's very apparent that he's not slept well last night. He opens the door to his office and lets her pass through before closing it behind them. "I would ask which of my clients you're coming to be about, but you said it was more of a personal issue. What's going on?"
"Not about any client. It's purely personal business in truth that needed a more personal touch" She rises from the chair, waving any any apology. He and she both know that sometimes, you just have to wait. "You look like you could sleep a dogs age James. Really, you should talk to someone" A cluck of sympathy in her voice and eye's. The toll since his fiance passed, has been one she's seen and she attributes this to that incident. Poor woman doesn't know a lick of why in truth or that it does in a way relate to such.
A press of lips ot cheek and she's following him into his office, taking a seat across from the desk when as the door makes it's click to indicate it's closed. "I need to get my affairs in order James. I need to see that Natasha is taken care of in regards to my estate and that when the time comes in the coming year, that she will be unburdened by details and someone will be able to manage it all for her. In case my former husband is too busy" And given what was said about the incidents around June 10th, he will likely be busy doing government things.
The legal profession has seen a sudden surge in these 'getting affairs in order' business since the day of the blackouts and so it causes James to raise his eyebrow as he motions to the couch in his office and sits down. "Fair enough. Before we continue, as your lawyer, is there something you feel like I should know about this? If you anticipate anything at all, it might help matters if you share that." The fact is, there have been plenty who are more than willing to discuss the events that unfolded in their visions, while others prefer not to say anything. "Not that it matters in this case, but I think you know that if something is expected, it will at least go a bit more easier in the aftermath."
"Somewhere in this city, on the evening of November 8th, I'm going to be laying down in a parkade, a Russian man will be holding my hand as I die James" It's still a bit surreal really. "I ask him to hold my hand, and to give a message to my daughter. After that…" Joanna's hands lift up. "Given the speculation around this, I felt… maybe I should get my things in order, in case they really are a premonintion and not some evolved's idea of a joke"
Two days ago, James Silver would have told Joanna to go home and forget about the vision and it's load of bullshit. Twenty four hours ago, the same. However, this morning, he's a believer and the events that transpired just last night are the reason. He wants so badly to say something, and as a grin threatens to curl up his lips, he shakes it off, lest Joanna thinks he's finding joy in her demise. He's not. "I thought it might have something to do with that."
He's not going to have to coddle her through all of this since she's a lawyer in her own right, so he stands and walks over to his desk and prints out a legal document, returning it for her to sign. "Is there anything special you need in this, Joanna? Anything out of the ordinary?" Typically if someone throws a curveball at the reading of a will, there's hell to follow.
"There's no secret children waiting in the ring and I'm not going to be donating all my worldly goods to a cat or anything of the like. There will be some things that I will want put into a safety deposit box ahead of time and i'll leave the key here, with you and to be delivered with the will. Everything to Natasha"
She'd had her own drawn up, but this was nearly word for word the same. "Some things for Vincent, that we acquired in our marriage that he may or may not want" It's quite morbid in truth. Preparing for your death. That he doesn't balk or try to dissuade her, rings a bell. "You believe in it? What people saw?"
Biting his tongue before he answers, Silver takes her paper instead, standing to slide his into the shredder. Hers in her own words would be better served. He scans a copy, prints it out and tucks it nice and neatly into an envelope, handing it to her. The original is tucked in a different envelope, her name scrawled on it and as he walks over to the safe, when he's not facing her and feels like he could answer that question without his expression giving him away, he shrugs.
"I didn't." Not the same as 'I don't' but it's the truth. "But as you can imagine we've been bombarded with clients who do believe it it. You aren't the first, Joanne. Honestly, I'm still considering the possibility." The safe is opened and he plucks through the alphabetical list of files until he finds where her's would go and he closes the door shut, sealing it again by spinning the dial before turning back to her. "There's really only one way to find out, right?"
"I don't want November 8th to come around" A tremor in her voice from the normally poised and sharklike lawyer. "She shouldn't have to deal with a dead mother James. But I don't know what I was doing, why I was where I was. Who that man was."
James sits down next to her and he places his hand on her back and shakes his head. "I'm not ready to believe that the future can be foretold. And I'm sure as hell not ready to believe that if the future could be foretold, that I couldn't, with one tiny decision, alter and change that destiny." He gives his shoulders a shrug. "Don't let it consume you, Joanna." Funny, coming from him. "Just avoid Russians and unfamiliar side streets."
"Or tell my ex-husband and see what he would do" Take a vacation and go abroad. Take Tasha with her. The hand at her back is comforting, enough to cause the tears that seemed to almost well, abate, subside, go back from whence they came. "Something tells me though James, that the Russian didn't know me beforehand. If I meet the Russian, it's already far too late"
"I don't think it's ever too late, Joanna." He had put his own vision out of his mind not long after it happened, deciding it was bunk, but he can't sit her and tell Joanna that it can't come true. Had she come a day earlier, he might have been able to give her some peace. Telling her about his vision and about seeing April last night will only make this worse for her. One day, he'll tell her. What a difference a day makes, huh?